1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices commonly used in mountain climbing and similar pursuits, and more particularly to carabiners in the form of oval or D-shaped closed structures having an articulated gate member adapted to open beyond the normal interference with the back wall of the carabiner, and, further, providing for smooth, noninterfering clipping in and removing of ropes and other accessories by providing a slot and bar latching arrangement on an end of the C-shaped member of the carabiner, and a narrowed and notched latching portion of the latching arrangement on the articulated gate member.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Carabiners are widely recognized and used in climbing, or in any field in which a closed member having an articulated gate portion providing access to the interior thereof is desired. The devices may be formed of solid materials, or of tubing to afford light weight. In all instances using a latch arrangement at one end of the articulated gate member, the C-shaped member is narrowed and includes an inwardly facing notch while the articulated gate member is slotted to fit over the narrowed portion and includes a transverse bar to fit the notch thus forming a latch arrangement. Conventionally, the gate member is articulated around a pivot, usually a flush rivet, positioned perpendicular to the plane of the C-shaped member. Accordingly, when the gate member is displaced inward, and particularly in carabiners of fairly small dimension, the resulting opening to the interior of the carabiner is limited because of interference between the articulated gate member and the interior back wall of the C-shaped member.
To avoid the conventional limited access, carabiners having an angled pivot axis to offset the gate member alongside the back wall have been proposed. However, since the gate member latch portion includes a slot and notch, it is necessarily wide and requires a substantial angular PG,4 offset at the pivot axis. As a result of the substantial offset, a side loading on the gate opening portion perpendicular to the plane of the C-shaped member can, in one direction, induce the gate member to be displaced inward with often times unexpected and highly undesirable release of ropes or accessories contained within the carabiner. For this reason, carabiners having substantial gate member offset from substantially angled pivots have not been widely accepted.
Also, as a result of the notch defined in the end of the C-shaped member adjacent the latch mechanism, ropes and other accessories inserted in or withdrawn from the interior of the carabiner had a tendency to hang up on the notch. This tendency is exaggerated in relatively small carabiners in which the gate opening is limited.
An example of a carabiner of this nature is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,212 issued June 8, 1982 to Jean-Claude Bibollet.